Bank Hapoalim (POLI.TA) will set aside an additional $75 million to cover a potential settlement in a U.S. investigation of possible tax evasion by the bank's clients there, Israel's largest bank said on Wednesday. Hapoalim said it had determined that more of its clients may be relevant to the investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Its provisions for the investigation now stand at $343 million, Hapoalim said in a statement.

Greek energy firm Energean has secured $1.25 billion in funding for the development of two natural gas fields offshore Israel, the company's chief executive said on Tuesday. The company signed commitment ...

Israel's Viola investment group said on Wednesday it has raised $100 million toward a target of $120 million-$150 million for a new global financial technology fund. The fintech fund is backed by banks, insurance companies and asset managers from North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Israel, including Scotiabank, The Travelers Companies and Bank Hapoalim. Viola FinTech said it is working closely with its investors to accelerate the adaption of technology by financial institutions.

Bank Hapoalim, Israel's largest lender, has sold its Swiss private banking unit and warned that a settlement it may have to pay in a U.S. tax evasion case could be "significantly higher" than previously thought. The bank said on Tuesday that it decided last month to end its activities in Switzerland, which have been the focus of the U.S. investigation, and sold its private banking businesses in Luxembourg and Switzerland to private bank J. Safra Sarasin Group. The deal is worth 27-33 million Swiss francs ($28-34 million) and is expected to close in the first half of 2018, pending regulatory approval.

Israel's Bank Hapoalim said on Tuesday the amount it may have to pay in a future settlement with U.S. authorities in a tax evasion probe could be "significantly higher" than previously thought and the provision for it may have to be raised. Hapoalim has set aside close to $200 million to cover potential fines as U.S. authorities pursue an investigation to find whether Israel's largest lender helped American clients evade U.S. taxes at its Swiss unit. In a report to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the bank also said it had stopped its Swiss unit's activity in September.

Billionaire Shari Arison has signed a non-binding agreement to bring on board three North American financial institutions to share her controlling interest in Bank Hapoalim (POLI.TA), Israel's biggest bank. Arison is in a preliminary agreement to sell 49 percent of Arison Holdings, through which she holds a controlling 20 percent stake in Hapoalim that is valued at 6.5 billion shekels (1.41 billion pounds). The price will be calculated according to Arison Holdings' equity, based on a valuation for Hapoalim of 24.82 shekels per share, Arison Holdings said on Sunday.

Billionaire Shari Arison has signed a non-binding agreement to bring on board three North American financial institutions to share her controlling interest in Bank Hapoalim, Israel's biggest bank. Arison is in a preliminary agreement to sell 49 percent of Arison Holdings, through which she holds a controlling 20 percent stake in Hapoalim that is valued at 6.5 billion shekels ($1.9 billion). The price will be calculated according to Arison Holdings' equity, based on a valuation for Hapoalim of 24.82 shekels per share, Arison Holdings said on Sunday.

Israel’s chief banking regulator said she would support the sale of Union Bank of Israel Ltd. to its bigger rival Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd. because it would strengthen competition in the country’s financial ...

Israel's biggest credit card company Isracard on Wednesday named Eyal Desheh, the outgoing chief financial officer of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries , as its new chairman. Teva in April said Desheh would step down at end-June after nearly a decade in the job, the second top official to resign from the Israel-based company this year. Isracard is a unit of Bank Hapoalim, Israel's largest lender.